


a little worse for wear

by sevensparrowsofrhye



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, No Incest, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Pre-Canon, Training, a couple months before five jumps, old man hargreeves is a shithead as always, platonic fiveya, pre S1, the kids are 12 in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26942695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevensparrowsofrhye/pseuds/sevensparrowsofrhye
Summary: She looked at him with a certain fondness in her eyes as she wrapped his wrists and palms in gauze. They slowly cleaned and wrapped his wounds, with Five’s grunts of pain drowned out by Vanya’s gentle humming; neither of them spoke, their lack of speech comforting. He pushed her hair behind her ear, causing a small smile to erupt across her face.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60





	a little worse for wear

**Author's Note:**

> trigger warning for being restrained! stay safe yall

“Number Five, come to the training room at 9 o’clock tonight for your training. This is not up for debate nor discussion.”

Five felt Hargreeves’ stare burn the back of his head as the man said this, a small chill running down his spine as he refused to turn and meet his father’s eyes.

“Yes sir.” Once he spoke, footsteps led away from the library leaving him alone once more. He let out a breath, letting himself be absorbed in his physics work once more, the semantics of time travel burning his mind just the same as his father’s eyes. His pencil scratching rhythmically against the paper soon melded with the haunting violin playing across the mansion, seemingly amplified despite Vanya’s lack of powers or speakers alike. His train of thought left him, knowing it was futile to go over his equations with his looming training session over his head.

Five’s footsteps soon joined the sounds of the home as he made his way to the smallest bedroom, passing his siblings varying endeavors as he passed. Luther’s and Diego’s quiet grunts as they fought in the foyer below, Allison’s and Klaus’ banter as his joint slowly burned outside the window, Ben’s page-turning through the Order Of The Phoenix, and all of it ending with Vanya’s subtle yet powerful melody.

“Hey V?”

Her playing stopped, the door creaking open, revealing her round face and dark brown locks. She opened it fully letting Five move inside and sit at the foot of her bed. Vanya sat beside him, their eyes meeting.

“You okay? Did Dad get mad at you again?”

“I have training at 9 tonight if that answers your questions.”

The house suddenly went dead silent, almost in response, with Vanya making a small noise, her eyes going big.

_“I am ready. I have gone over every equation endlessly for years, I can do it.”_  
_“Number Five, sit down. You are not permitted to speak at mealtimes, lest I remind you once more?”_  
_“Well, it seems as if I am not permitted to speak whatsoever according to you, so I deeply apologize if my words are an inconvenience to you and your precious time.” His words dripped with sarcasm as he glared at the head of the table._  
_“You are allotted as much time to speak as often as any other at this table. It so happens that I believe children get no say in their treatment, as they are in fact, children.”_  
_Five had jumped from the table to the outskirts of the mansion much to the chagrin of Sir Reginald Hargreeves._  
_“Grace, go after him, will you? And no meals for the remainder of the day.”_

Despite the argument being mild in comparison to the usual disagreements between Five and his father, his retorts were not taken lightly.

“Have you eaten anything? You fainting in training would make everything worse.”

“I snuck a sandwich while he was with Diego. I’ll be fine Vanya, I was just admiring your playing.”

Vanya knew he was lying through his teeth about him being in any normal state of health after training, as well as him being in here only to admire her playing, but she was not going to push it.

“Well, we have a while until training and dinner, so I can show you the piece I have been working on if you would like.”

“I’d love to hear it.”

Five stood outside the training room door, staring intently at the clock slowly ticking. He did not know if his eagerness to prove himself outweighed the fear he felt in knowing what was behind the door. It could be one of his siblings with whom he fought: sparring with Luther or Diego, fighting Allison’s rumors, or learning how to outmatch Ben’s tentacles. He could be forced to jump to the point of passing out at his father’s feet and end up in the infirmary with no recollection of training.

The door opened beside him revealing Pogo and much to his surprise, Grace.

“Come in, Mister Five. We have some preparation for your training.”

Five walked in, the foam cushion of the floor squishing beneath his feet. He had not encountered training that had required any sort of preparation from Grace or Pogo, as he had managed it himself since he was five.

“What is my training?”

“You will see, now step to the middle of the room for me.”

He followed Pogo’s motions, and then noticed a chair centered in the room covered in varying strips of rope and leather. With a side glance, he sat down. At once, Pogo and Grace got to work tying, on what he now realized were restraints, on his arms, legs, waist, and most uncomfortably, his neck. Grace looked at him with her large smile, and while it may reassure Diego, it only assisted in making Five’s heart drop. Once all the restraints were as tight as possible, the pair left, the newfound silence becoming encapsulating.

“Number Five, your undivided attention please.”

Five’s gaze met Reginald’s.

“As I am positive you have figured out, your training is to remove yourself from restraints without any assistance from your powers. There is no use in attempting to use them. I expect you to be out by midnight. We will continue this training until you can escape in under 5 minutes.”

Without awaiting a response from Five, he left the room and with him any hope of seeing, as all lights within the training arena were extinguished with a flick of a switch. He heard the distinct sound of a camera zooming, no doubt surveilling his progress, of which he had made little.

“I guess he expects me to Harry Houdini this shit, doesn’t he?”

If he had an audience, he may as well provide a commentary. Rope burned against his wrists as he began to twist and pull hoping he could come out without too much injury. He took a deep breath but as he did so, his airflow got cut off, causing him to sputter and choke. That is one way to shut him up.

Five made it out at 11:55. He jumped from the training room hallway to his bedroom, snatching the first-aid kit from under the bed, he blinked to the bathroom. Inspecting his wounds in the mirror, he saw the varying injuries scattering across his body. Rope burns were on his wrists and stomach, as his shirt had ridden up over the course of his escape. His neck burned as well because of course it did. Flicking on the light, the bright red of blood on his skin was illuminated, his wrists and palms being the main offenders. He jumped into the shower, washing the sweat and blood from his skin, taking care to not aggravate his injuries any more than he had to. Once he was finished, he threw on a pair of silky pajama pants embroidered with an umbrella and began to tend to his wounds.

He poured hydrogen peroxide over his wrist in the sink, a quiet string of curses coming from him as the stinging got worse. A soft knock caused him to drop the bottle, and with a groan, he wrenched open the bathroom door.

“Five, I came to check if you were-”

“I’m fine thanks, go back to bed,” he interrupted, a slight edge to his words. As he turned back into the bathroom, Vanya caught his wrist. A hiss escaped his lips as he wrenched his arm back, his eyes meeting hers, fear obvious in them.

“I’m fine, really, you didn’t do anything. Dad’s just an ass.”

She looked at him, the fear in her eyes dissipating into anger and disgust but not at him. Pushing past him, minding his wounds, she grabbed the peroxide bottle from the sink along with some sort of sticky ointment from the first-aid kit. Holding her hand out, she looked at him expectantly. He walked over and sat on the edge of the clawfoot tub and let Vanya dab at his wounds, her face contorting as she realized the extent of them.

“What in your training required rope?”

“He had me tied up and I had to escape. Nothing hard, but I couldn’t use my powers so it took a while.”

She looked at him with a certain fondness in her eyes as she wrapped his wrists and palms in gauze. They slowly cleaned and wrapped his wounds, with Five’s grunts of pain drowned out by Vanya’s gentle humming; neither of them spoke, their lack of speech comforting. He pushed her hair behind her ear, causing a small smile to erupt across her face.

“Thanks, V.”

“Of course.”

Vanya gave him a small peck on his forehead and muttered a soft goodnight. He reciprocated it, watching her leave the bathroom. He reassembled the first-aid kit and with a flick, turned off the light. Blinking to his bedroom, he curled up under his bedroom covers and hoped for sleep. He may be a little worse for wear, but at least he had Vanya.

**Author's Note:**

> is five a little ooc? is this kinda terrible? yes and yes. this is my first umbrella academy fic so this is my first experience writing with them! as always, you can find me @kittydeetz on tumblr. kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! stay safe and have a great day, <3.


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